The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Since you say you are playing vinyl - are you trying to play a typical 12 inch vinyl album that spins at 33 ⅓ RPM? If you are, then maybe your turntable is not spinning to fast - it is supposed to spin at 78 RPM. Also, if you are using needles that came with the machine they are probably used and too blunt to play properly without damaging the record.

Here's a Seville with the proper type of record: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh-yQeGNNV4[/youtube]

The old wind-ups, as others have mentioned, were made in the era of 78 rpm records, which are (with some late exceptions) made of a shellac-based compound. Thin vinyl records are mostly 33 ⅓ RPM recordings, which did not come into common usage until the late 1940s, and are much too soft to be played with an old-timer like yours. They were made to be played with later machines that had much lighter weight arms and reproducers that exerted far less stylus pressure. They are commonly referred to as “LPs” (the LP standing for long-playing), because with their slower speed and finer groves their playing time is much longer than a 78’s.

78 RPM records are abundant and ordinary ones are very cheap. You can find them by the thousands on eBay (albeit at inflated prices often), in thrift shops and on Craig's list. I see batches of hundreds on Craig's list from time to time for what amounts to far less than $1.00 each.

Often 33 ⅓ RPM records are marked as such and/or will have “LP” on the label. They are also somewhat flexible. 78s are rigid and would break if you tried to bend one. Once you have seen a few 78s and LPs side by side you will have no trouble at all discerning one from another.

By the way, when you get some 78s remember that the steel needles used to play them are meant to be used to play only one record. You then replace them with a new one for playing the next record. But needles are also cheap and you can pick up batches of them from eBay sellers or from the many dealers who cater to phonograph collectors.

Clay